In the last two offseasons, the Rockets have been major players in free agency. All indications from Daryl Morey are that that’s not going to be the case this year. In 2013, Houston landed the biggest free agent of the summer in Dwight Howard. Last year, they made a pitch to Carmelo Anthony and came close to luring Chris Bosh away from Miami, before the Heat came through with a max contract offer. Now, even with such names as Kevin Love and LaMarcus Aldridge on the market, Morey seems more focused on re-signing the Rockets’ own players who are due for new deals than adding another star.

The Rockets are “probably likely” to stick with their plan to remain above the salary cap and spend the free-agency period putting the band back together by signing many, if not all, of their five free agents.

Morey did say there are “possible opportunities we have to explore that are bigger. But I think they’re unlikely.”

Those unlikely “possible opportunities” are enough for the Rockets to do some big-game hunting when free-agent season opens Wednesday, but without the confidence of the past two summers.

This summer’s top free-agent targets – big men LaMarcus Aldridge and Kevin Love – are considered much greater long shots than the top players of the past two offseasons that had the Rockets in the middle of the annual free-agent frenzy.

The Rockets will have five players to make decisions on this summer: restricted free agents Patrick Beverley and K.J. McDaniels, and unrestricted free agents Josh Smith, Corey Brewer and Jason Terry. Beverley and Smith are the two most likely players to be priorities. Beverley missed the last two weeks of the regular season and the entire postseason with torn ligaments in his left wrist, but he should be healthy by training camp and he’s been a defensive pest for Houston the last three years. He should be due for a significant raise over the $915,000 he made this season — probably something north of $10 million annually.

Smith resurrected his career in Houston after a catastrophic year-plus in Detroit, learning to play to his strengths as a solid defender and around-the-basket finisher and complimenting Howard well in the frontcourt. Brewer found a perfect role as an energy guy off the bench in Houston after being traded from Minnesota in December. Terry was surprisingly solid in the backup point guard role, stepping in as a starter after Beverley went down. McDaniels didn’t play much after being traded to Houston from Philadelphia at the deadline, but he’s still a promising young talent.

Unless something unforeseen happens, Morey’s plan seems to be to keep this group together and add new draftees Sam Dekker and Montrezl Harrell. And why not? The Rockets made the Western Conference Finals despite injuries to Beverley and Donatas Motiejunas. If the opportunity is there to get a star like Love or Aldridge, Morey will obviously go for it, but it’s understandable that he sees potential for this core to make yet another leap after a successful season and playoff run.

According to multiple league sources, the Heat are attempting to trade guard Mario Chalmers and big man Chris Andersen to help free up some salary

Andersen ($5 million) and Chalmers ($4.3 million) are entering the final year of their contracts. So, dealing those two would help only the first two objectives. Andersen and Chalmers would be off the books anyway when Whiteside hits free agency.

If Andersen and Chalmers are traded, that would make it easier to re-sign Wade and Dragic to big contracts. But those big contracts could contain only 7.5% pay decreases

If there were perfect trust, perhaps the Heat could agree to overpay Wade this year on a one-year deal. In exchange, he’d take less in 2016, when Miami needs the money for Whiteside.

Another difficulty: Dumping Andersen and Chalmers won’t be easy. Andersen turns 37 next month and has shown signs of decline. Chalmers is coming off the worst season of his career. The Heat would probably have to include a sweetener to unload either. Their No. 10 pick, Justise Winslow, is far too valuable for that, and they’ve already traded as many future first-rounders as they’re allowed to deal.

I think Miami wants to see Dragic, Wade, Luol Deng, Chris Bosh and Whiteside play together. Trading Chalmers and Andersen would help accomplish that. But how do the Heat unload those two?

If everything goes as it’s expected to, Dwyane Wade is going to opt out of the final year of his contract with the Heat and become a free agent on July 1. He wants a bigger long-term contract than the Heat are currently willing to give him, and he’s indicated that he’s open to testing the market to see what’s out there, and possibly leaving the only team he’s played for in his 12 years in the NBA.

Wade has until next Monday to decide on whether he’s going to opt in for next season and earn $16.1 million or become an unrestricted free agent.

Wade and the Heat are currently far apart on their desires; the Heat would prefer for Wade to opt into the deal and Wade would prefer a new, richer and longer-term contract, sources said.

The sides have not formally spoken in some time. They had discussed a new contract for around $10 million per year for up to three years beyond his current deal, sources said.

For his part Wade has every right to feel like the Heat owe him the respect of a better offer than they’ve given him so far. He took a pay cut in 2010 to allow LeBron James and Chris Bosh to sign in Miami, and last summer opted out of the final two years and $41 million of his contract in order to help Pat Riley retool the roster while keeping the big three together. James left to sign with the Cavaliers, and Wade watched as the Heat gave Bosh a five-year max deal. He, meanwhile, signed a two-year, $31 million deal with a player option in the second season — essentially giving back $10 million that would have been his if he hadn’t opted out.

The Heat understandably don’t want to commit big long-term money to Wade at 33, with his injury history. He can’t be counted on to play more than 55 or 60 games a year anymore, even though he still contributes at an extremely high level when he does play. But taking the long view, the Heat’s hands are more or less tied here if they want to preserve the long-term health of their franchise. They’re widely expected to make a run at Kevin Durant when he hits free agency next summer, and the package of Riley’s reputation and the city of Miami is an attractive pitch for any big-time free agent. But a major selling point for the Heat has been the way they take care of their own — the way they stood behind Alonzo Mourning when he had various health problems during his playing career and gave him a front-office position after he retired. The way Udonis Haslem is seemingly headed on the same track once he retires, taking less money throughout his career to stay in Miami and becoming part of the fabric of the organization. Wade has made it clear that he wants to stay in Miami if the money is agreeable. If they let him, of all people, go over a few million dollars, how’s that going to look to future free agents? There has never been a more important player in Miami Heat history than Dwyane Wade, and the “we take care of our own” pitch falls apart if they lowball him again in free agency.

It has never before felt like Wade could leave the Heat, but it’s very much in play now. But both sides have too much invested in staying together to think they won’t get a deal done at some point.

Soon-to-be unrestricted free agent point guard Mo Williams is “more than interested” in making a return to Cleveland, sources close to the guard informed Northeast Ohio Media Group.

However, due to their own pending powerhouse free agents, the Cavaliers will be limited in what they can offer. All they will have at their disposal is the taxpayer mid-level exception and the veteran’s minimum. Williams is seeking a multiyear deal and the Cavaliers and Hornets are two of the teams at the top of his wish list, a source revealed. …

Williams and James have a great relationship, I’m told. If a deal could be worked out, I’m told the four-time MVP would welcome him with open arms.

The reality is that James has as much power in the Cavaliers organization as he wants. He can make demands about who his head coach will or will not be, and just as we saw with guys like Mike Miller and James Jones (who played very sparingly in the postseason overall, but especially during the Finals), he can push the front office in a particular direction where acquiring his former teammates is concerned.

Williams started the year in Minnesota but finished the season as a member of the Hornets, and averaged 17.2 points and six assists in 30.8 minutes per contest in Charlotte, while making 27 appearances. He was an All-Star in 2009, after Chris Bosh was forced to miss the midseason exhibition due to injury.

When LeBron James made the decision to return to Cleveland after four years in Miami, he signed a new contract with an eye on 2016, when the league would receive an influx of new TV money. His deal was for two years, with a one-year opt-out, which he’s expected to use. However, before Game 5 of the Finals, he insisted that he hasn’t even thought about this upcoming decision yet.

Predictably, that’s where James’ focus is today, and not on the business decisions waiting regarding his contract this summer. A secondary, but no-less-symbolic reason he’s not thinking about his contract: James said last week he’s “happy” in Cleveland.

“Ha, I haven’t even thought about that until you just said something,” James told the Northeast Ohio Media Group. “I’ll tackle all of that after the season, but, yeah, I’m happy where I’m at.”

There isn’t a lot of drama surrounding this free agency decision, the way there was last summer. It would be legitimately shocking if he left Cleveland again, given all the talk about wanting to come home and build something long-term in his home state. The advantage to opting out would be the ability to sign another one-year deal worth slightly more than the second-year player option on his current contract.

After taking less money to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami in 2010, James has been clear that he’s not going to take any more discounts. That’s why he signed the short-term deal, rather than a longer contract like Carmelo Anthony did when he re-signed in New York. Whether he picks up his option or opts out and signs another short-term deal, James’ plan is going to be to sign a long-term deal in 2016, when he can make significantly more money than he could under the current salary cap.